In Vitro Studies

Abstract

The most frequent pathogens encountered in urologic surgery are Gram-negative bacteria (Table 1). In a hospital setting, E. coli is still the predominant pathogen, but bacteria that are difficult to treat such as Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are found with increasing frequency. Third-generation cephalosporins have been widely used for prophylaxis as they have a favorable antimicrobial action and low toxicity (McEniry and Gorbach, 1987). The MIC against most uropathogens is well below 1 mg/L for most thirdgeneration cephalosporins. Likewise, quinolones have a very broad antimicrobial spectrum against most uropathogens and some are active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycoplasma and Chlamydia trachomatis (Hooper and Wolfson, 1991; Nielsen and Madsen, 1989). Moreover, the quinolone MIC against many of these bacteria is very low (see Table 3 and section 2.4.1).